Well, this might be seen as yet another bit of laziness on my part but I figured since I had just reviewed the last Doctor Who story of the Jon Pertwee era, why not review the first story of Tom Baker's era, Robot, which I have already reviewed a few years back on this blog and it is the story that immediately proceeds Pertwee's finale, Planet of the Spiders. So, I figured why not do another post revisitation for this one.
And with that said, let's take another look at Tom Baker's debut story as the 4th Doctor and see how it stacks up 43 years onward.....
And yes the usual warning is coming right up...
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the story begins with the Doctor (Baker) having just regenerated infront of his companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) babble inconherently before he passes out. The Doctor is taken to the medical bay where he soon comes round and tries to sneak back into the TARDIS but is stopped by the medical officer, Lt Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) but the Doctor ties him up and puts him in a cupboard. But as the Doctor is about to leave in the TARDIS, the Brigadier and Sarah both convince him to stay to help them find the culprit behind the theft of plans for a new powerful disintegrator gun.
The Brigadier then takes the Doctor to the Ministry of Defence advanced research centre where the plans were stolen where the Doctor notices a crushed flowers and strange rectangular footprint. The Brigadier then sets a permieter around the centre to prevent any attack, but the culprit outwits them by burrowing up from underground as it collects the final part needed for the weapon.
Sarah meanwhile investigates a "think tank" group run by its director, Hilda Winters (Patricia Maynard) and her assistant Arnold Jellicoe (Alec Lindstedt). Sarah finds out that they are developing a prototype robot K1 (Michael Kilgariff) which has been built to perform hazardous tasks in place of humans.
Sarah discovers also that the robot was in fact designed by Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham) who was a former member of the think tank who has now turned towards methods of alternative energy. Kettlewell insists that he had dismantled the robot and that neither Winters or Jellicoe have the ability to reprogramme the robot correctly but if they have tried to it could have resulted in the robot suffering an existential crisis.
Despite the potential dangers of the robot, Sarah starts to feel sorry for it as she realises that Winters appears to be using it for her own ends and she programs the robot to kill a cabinet minister, Joseph Chambers (Walter Goodman). The robot kills Chambers and then steals some papers which turn out to be launch codes for nuclear weapons of the major nations to only be used in times of grave emergency.
The Doctor soon discovers that Winters and Jellicoe are members of the Scientific Reform Society, who are a society dedicated towards putting scientists in charge of the world believing they can make better decisions for humanity. The Doctor attends the meeting only to discover that Kettlewell, who is also present, is in fact the mastermind behind it all and he rebuilt the K1 robot along with Winters and Jellicoe and steal the codes to force humanity to change its ways.
And it is from here, the Doctor must try and find a way to stop Winters and Kettlewell from carrying out their plan which could lead to the end of the world.....
THOUGHTS
As a debut story for the Baker era, Robot is a very entertaining one and it sees the Fourth Doctor start with a nice bright and breezy story, which proved to be the final story to be produced by Barry Letts who said he intended to oversee the casting of the new doctor and also the first story before handing over his mantle to Philip Hinchcliffe.
The story itself also proved to be one of the last UNIT stories before they were eventually phased out by Hinchcliffe with Terror of the Zygons and the Android Invasion proving to be the last stories connected with UNIT in the Baker era. Terrance Dicks who wrote the story had already given over his former script editor duties to Robert Holmes and he provides a pretty decent script as well.
And story wise even though its nothing too original its still quite an entertaining one and the inclusion of the robot as a Frankenstein-esque monster proves to be quite an effective centre piece for the story and the robot itself turns out to be quite sympathetic as it is reprogrammed by its masters and it feels an emotional conflict as a result.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES
Moving onto the performances things are pretty good here.
Starting with Tom Baker, who turns in a fine debut performance as the Fourth Doctor. Tom at this stage naturally was yet to find his feet in the role but he does already show the doctor's eccentric ebullience and provides plenty of fun moments too.
And as a few examples there is the scene where the Doctor shortly after his regeneration, finds the TARDIS key in his boot and says "Of course. Obvious place!" before being stopped by Harry Sullivan. And Harry says to the Doctor that he's "not fit" and the Doctor takes offence and angrily says "Not fit?! Not fit?! Of course I'm fit! All systems go!" and he karate chops a brick in half on the table and sprints on the spot to prove his point. Then the Doctor afterwards checks out his face in a mirror and he looks surprised and disappointed and says "As for the physiognomy. Well, nothing's perfect. Have to take the rough with the smooth. Mind you, I think the nose is a definite improvement!".
And as Harry tries to persuade the Doctor to go back to sickbay, the Doctor instead tries to prove that he is fit to Harry by grabbing a long piece of robe and he starts skipping the rope and forcing Harry to join in. So, as the Doctor skips with Harry, he shouts a nursery rhyme "Mother, mother, I feel sick. Send for the doctor quick, quick, quick. Mother, dear, shall I die? Yes, my darling, by and by. One two three four!",
Another fun moment comes when the Doctor tries out various outfits before settling on his usual one. And one such example is when the Doctor dresses up in a viking outfit and asks the Brig what he thinks and the Brigadier says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation" and the Doctor sheepishly asks "You think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "It's just possible!". Then after trying another couple of outfits he emerges from the TARDIS wearing his first proper outfit and he says to the Brigadier "Well, how about this?!".
Another good scene comes when the Doctor examines the crime scene of the centre where the Robot broke in and the Doctor looks at a crushed flower and says "And according to my estimation of the resistance to pressure of vegetable fibre, it was stepped on by something that weighed a quarter of a ton!".
Then we have the scene where the Brigadier and his men surround Emmett's Electronics and the Brigadier says he has everywhere covered. So, the Brig says to the Doctor " Believe me, Doctor, the place is impregnable" and the Doctor seems a bit wary and says "Never cared much for the word impregnable. Sounds a bit too much like unsinkable". And this prompts Harry to ask "What's wrong with unsinkable?" and the Doctor says "Nothing, as the iceberg said to the Titanic" and Harry, puzzled asks "What?" and the Doctor does an imitation of a ship sinking as he says "glug, glug, glug!". And after the robot breaks in and steals the next element needed to build a disintegrator gun and kills one of the UNIT soldiers, the Doctor, Brig and Harry enter the electronics vault and the Doctor checks out the big hole dug out of the ground. And the Doctor says to the Brigadier "There seems to be a very large rat about, Brigadier" and the Brig asks "Rat???" and the Doctor says to him "Perhaps you should employ the services of a very large cat!".
Another fun scene is when the Doctor tries to enter the Scientific Reform Society meeting and he
empties his pockets at the front outside the meeting infront of a security guard (stunt actor and series regular, Terry Walsh). So, the Doctor says to the guard "Freedom to the city of Skaro? No. Pilot's licence for the Mars Venus rocket run. Galactic passport. Do you travel much? Honorary member of the Alpha Centauri Table Tennis Club!". However the guard grows tired quickly of the Doctor's antics and he stands up and walks toward him and the Doctor backs away and says "Very tricky opponents, those chaps. Six arms, and of course six bats. It really keeps you on your toes. I'll tell you what, I'll just pop outside and try something...". The Doctor then swiftly trips up the guard with his very long scarf and he says to the guard "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. You just like there and get some rest. I'll find help. And above all, don't worry. Everything's going to be all right!".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor tries to make a metal virus that will destroy the robot at Professor Kettlewell's lab and he complains about Kettlewell's notes and says "Why didn't that man write up his notes properly?!". And later the Brigadier radios in to say that the robot has sealed himself inside the bunker with Sarah. So, the Doctor says to himself "Of course! Supressed Oedipus complex leading excessive guilt and overcompensation!". So, the Doctor grabs the radio from Harry and he asks the Brigadier "Brigadier, the robot will try to carry out Kettlewell's plan. Is the computer terminal in the bunker still active?!". The Brigadier answers "As far as I know..." and the Doctor interrupts and asks "Can you switch off the electricity supply?" but the Brigadier tells him "No! Its on a special sealed circuit!". So, the Doctor warns him "Then warn all the major powers. The emergency is not over! They must operate full fail-safe procedures at once!".
And last of all there is the last scene in the story where the Doctor tries to console Sarah, who is somewhat distraught over the robot being destroyed. So, the Doctor in the scenes offers Sarah a jelly baby but she says nothing and he says to her "I had to do it, you know" and Sarah realises this and says "Yes, yes, I know. It was insane and it did terrible things, but, but at first, it was so human!". The Doctor then says "It was a wonderful creature, capable of great good, and great evil. Yes, I think you could say it was human".
However as Sarah mentions to the Doctor about his commitments to the Brigadier in his unpaid job as a scientific advisor for UNIT and he says to Sarah "The Brigadier wants me to address the Cabinet, have lunch at Downing Street, dinner at the Palace, and write seventeen reports in triplicate. Well, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't!" and he thumps his hand on the brick and instead this time hurts thumb. And Sarah says he is being childish and the Doctor says "Well of course I am. There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes!". The Doctor then holds out his bag of jelly babies and says to Sarah "Are you coming?" and they both smile and she takes one gleefully just before Harry enters the room to end the story.
Elisabeth Sladen also does a fine job again as Sarah Jane Smith who in this story takes a shine to the robot and ends up feeling sorry for it as the story goes on.
Liz has some good moments in the story as well such as the scene near the start where the Brigadier mentions that the Doctor is still recovering in sick bay and that Harry Sullivan is looking after him. So, Sarah asks the Brigadier of Harry "You sure you've got the right man to look after him?" and the Brig says to her "Young Sullivan? Oh, he's a very fine chap. First class doctor" and Sarah says "Seems a bit old fashioned". The Brigadier then says to Sarah "Nothing wrong with that, Miss Smith. You may not have noticed, but I'm a bit old fashioned myself" but Sarah tells the Brig "Nonsense, Brigadier! You're a swinger!".
Then there is the scene where Sarah shows her concern for the creature after Winters attempts to show that the robot cannot harm humans by ordering it to destroy Sarah and the robot refuses and becomes distraught before it is switched off. And Sarah says to Winters "That was a cruel thing to do" and as Winters says its not human and has no feelings, Sarah say to her "Oh, it's got a brain, hasn't it? It walks and talks like us. How can you be sure it doesn't have feelings too?!".
Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits". Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected. It is not logical that you should feel sorrow". So, after Miss Winters and Mr Jellicoe warn her to keep quiet about the robot but Sarah simply says to them "Goodbye, Miss Winters, Mister Jellicoe" and Jellicoe is about to show her out, Sarah annoyed says "Oh, please, don't bother to see me out!".
Another highlight for Liz in the story is when Sarah pays a visit to the Scientific Reform Society where she talks to a rather snooty staff member, Mr Short (Timothy Craven) who is aptly named as he is somewhat "short" with Sarah in this scene! So, in the scene Sarah says to Short "Oh, I see you're having a meeting here tonight. Do you think it'd be possible for me to come?" and Short bluntly says "Sorry, out of the question. Private meeting, members only. No press!". Sarah then asks "But if I joined?" and Short patronisingly says "I really don't you'd qualify. We have very high standards!". So, Sarah thanks Mr Short for his time and then he asks her before she goes "I do hope you'll include us in your article. We've been sadly misrepresented" and Sarah says to him in a flippant tone "Really? Well, we're covering a number of fringe organisations, and I'm sure we'll find a place for you. Somewhere between the flying saucer people and the flat Earthers!".
Another good scene is when Sarah suggests to Professor Kettlewell while they are UNIT, that they later try to go to Scientific Reform Society meeting where Winters and Jellicoe will also be attending. However, Benton is not so keen and he says regarding them going off together "But the Brigadier will go spare, so will the Doctor!" and Sarah says "Well one's away and the others asleep!". Benton then suggests "Well, I'll go and wake the Doctor and see what he says" but Sarah insists "Don't you dare. He had a nasty knock on the head and he needs to rest!".
However, Benton stands his ground and tries to stop them and says "I'm sorry, Miss, its just not on!" but then Sarah asks him "Mr Benton, are we members of UNIT?" and Benton says "Well, no, of course not". Sarah then asks Benton "Are we under arrest?" and Benton sighs and says "No, miss" so Sarah then says to Benton "Well then, what we do and where we go is none of your business, is it?!" and she leads out Kettlewell and she turns to Benton and patronisingly says to him "Now just you go and blanco your rifle, or something!".
WARNING! BIG SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!
And last of all is the scene where the robot holds Sarah captive after it has killed Professor Kettlewell, it decide to go through his initial plan to launch the world's atomic missiles and start a nuclear war. So, as the robot reactivates the countdown, Sarah tries to stop it but the robot pushes her aside and Sarah falls to the ground and she get's up clutching her head she asks "Why? Why?!" and the robot tells her "I destroyed Kettlewell! I must see his plan does not fail". Sarah however tries to tell the robot that Kettlewell changed his mind "But he changed his mind! He wouldn't want you to continue!".
Then later as the world powers activate their fail-safes and stop the countdown, Sarah says to the robot "You see? They've operated the fail-safe mechanism. Give up now. Please!" but the robot says "Humanity must be destroyed! It is evil, corrupt!" so Sarah tries to plead with the robot "But you can't take on the whole world. Don't you understand? They'll destroy YOU!!". The robot however just tells Sarah "Do not fear. I cannot be destroyed" and they head out to face the UNIT troops.
Nicholas Courtney is also really good once more as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart who along with the Doctor investigates the think tank and their nefarious activities.
And Nick has his share of good moments in this story, such as the one where the Doctor tries out a number of new outfits none of which seem suitable. So, when the Doctor appears in his first outfit, which is of a viking and the Brigadier says "You've changed!" and the Doctor thinks he means his face and says "Oh, no not again!". However the Brigadier corrects the Doctor and says "I didn't mean your face, I meant your clothes" and the Doctor asks "Don't you like them?" and the Brig says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation". So, the Doctor asks "Do you think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "Its just possible!".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor asks the Brigadier "There's just one teeny weeny thing. and the Brig asks "What's that?" and the Doctor says re: the robot "What are we going to do when we find it?". So, the Brigadier wearily says "Yes. You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets!".
And later there is the scene where the Brigadier spots the disintegrator gun which he points at the robot and he says to Sgt Benton (John Levene) "Of course the very thing! I think just for once we won't need the Doctor!". However as the Brig takes aim and fire the disintegrator gun at the robot becasue of its melocular structure the disintegrator ray causes the robot to grow to a giant size!
And Nick has one of the story's best lines at the very end where he walks into the Doctor's lab and notices the TARDIS has gone (as he has just taken off) and the Brig says "Oh Doctor, her majesty is expecting us about....." and he looks around and says "Oh well, I'll just tell them you'll be running a little late!".
Ian Marter also does well in his debut as Harry Sullivan, the old fashioned army doctor, who is assigned to look after the Doctor only to be eventually tied up by him and little does he know would end up travelling with the Doctor for the rest of the season! However Ian is somewhat underused in this story though and its only in the other stories in this season where Ian's character get's more screen time.
So, Ian despite his somewhat limited screen time still has some good moments as well in the story such as the scene where the Doctor sneaks out of sickbay and tries to leave in the TARDIS but he is stopped by Harry. So, in the scene, Harry says to the Doctor "There you are. Now come along, Doctor, you are supposed to be in the sickbay!" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Don't you mean the infirmary?". Harry then says "No I don't mean the infirmary, I mean the sickbay! You're not fit yet" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Not fit? I'm the Doctor" and Harry says "No, Doctor, I'M the doctor and I say that you're not fit". However the Doctor tries to prove his point that he is and runs on the spot and then checks out both of his heartbeats and Harry listens in on his stethoscope and the Doctor says "Hearts beat?" and Harry says "I say, I don't think that can be right!".
Then there is the following scene where Sarah and the Brigadier find Harry tied up in the cupboard and they hear a clattering from the cupboard at first and then open it to find him there. So, Sarah asks Harry "What are you doing down there?! Where's the Doctor?!" and Harry says to them both "He tied me up and hung me up in here like an old pair of boots!".
And then there is the last scene where Harry enters the UNIT lab and sees that the Doctor and Sarah are about to leave in the TARDIS and he asks where they are going and the Doctor says they are going for a trip in the police box. And Harry says to the Doctor "On, come along now, Doctor. We're both reasonable men. Now we both know that police boxes don't go careering all over the place!". The Doctor then asks Harry "Do we?" and Harry laughs and says "Of course we do. The whole idea is absurd!" and then the Doctor asks him "Is it? Would you like to step inside for a moment? Just to demonstrate that it is all an illusion?" and Harry says "Well if you think it will help" and the Doctor says "Yes it would make me feel much better". So, Harry then says "Right-o" and he steps inside the TARDIS and we hear him exclaim in surprise "Oh, I say!!" and both the Doctor and Sarah grin.
As for the other cast members Patricia Maynard does well with her role as the officious and amorally amibitious "Think tank" director, Hilda Winters, who plans to be take over the world by holding it to ransom using the nuclear codes to launch a nuclear strike if their demands are not met.
And Patricia has some good scenes aswell that include the one where Sarah sneaks back into robotics section of Think Tank but then suddenly the doors open the robot walks in and advances on Sarah but it is soon deactivated by Winters and Jellicoe. So, in the scene Sarah asks "Is it dangerous?" and Winters asks "Why do you say that?" and Sarah tells her "Well, it just struck me that it could be a very powerful weapon if it got into the wrong hands. It could be misused". Winters then turns quite sinister and says "Like this you mean?" and she turns her attention to the robot "This girl is an intruder and a spy. She must not leave here alive. Destroy her!". However the robot becomes conflicted as it refuses to obey, so Winters tells it to terminate and it goes limp.
So, just before Sarah goes, Winters warns her about what she has seen of the robot "One moment, Miss Smith. If I were to make a formal complaint about your behaviour here, you might find yourself in a very difficult position". Jellicoe pitches in aswell and says "Dangerous thing, curiosity. Can get you into a lot of trouble". So, Winters gives Sarah her an ultimatum "So I'll make a bargain with you. Keep quiet about what you've discovered here, and I'll keep quiet about how you discovered it" but Sarah simply says goodbye to them and walks out. And after Sarah goes, Jellicoe objects to Winters demonstration "That was an appallingly dangerous thing to do! Telling it to destroy her. The inhibitor's only just been reset. You know there have been problems. Suppose it had obeyed you?!" and Winters looks to Jellicoe and simply says "It made an interesting test".
And lastly there is the scene where Winters delivers her passionate speech at the Scientific Reform Society meeting. So, Winters says "And as you know, my friends, tonight is the culmination of many years of work and planning. A brilliant and audacious scheme is about to come to its climax! You have all waited long and patiently during the years of scorn and ridicule. The days when we were laughed at as cranks. Well now a new and better future is almost within our grasp!". So, Winters continues "A future in which we, the elite, will rule as is our right! We owe it all to one man. The man whose unrivalled scientific genius has put us in the commanding position we now hold. Professor Kettlewell!" and Kettlewell walks onto stage to a warm standing ovation. And Winters finishes her speech "He brings with him the symbol of our movement. The creature whose intelligence and power make him a fitting emblem for our scientific new order!" and then there a big cheers.
Edward Burnham is also good in his role as the seemingly harmless Professor Kettlewell who built the robot and in the end turns out to be working with Winters and he also sprouts a pretty ridiculous looking hairdo!
And I will only mention one of Burnham's scenes and its the one where the Doctor, the Brig and Sarah visit Kettlewell at his lab. And during the scene the Doctor takes a look at Kettlewell's scientific notes and he says to him "This will never do, you know! If theta over x coincides with your disputed factor, you're losing half your output!". But Kettlewell defiantly says "Oh, rubbish! I checked all those calculations myself" and the Doctor says "Look, the error's in the third part of the calculation" so Kettlewell checks his figures on his calculator and looks astonished at the Doctor and says "Bless my soul!". The Doctor then encourages Kettlewell by saying "But you're doing vital work, Professor. Earth's human race should have started tapping solar power long ago!" and Kettlewell wholeheartedly agrees and says "This new solar battery will provide an endless supply of pollution free energy at a fraction of the present cost and they haven't the wit to see it!".
So, as Kettlewell babble on about the days of the great scientists, the Doctor cuts him short and says "Professor, I think you ought to tell us about the robot". So, Kettlewell stops and takes a moment and says "It was the last project I worked upon before I decided to leave. I gave orders for him to be dismantled. It was like putting my own son to death. I thought it was for the best. His power, his capacity to learn had begun to frighten me!". Sarah then says "But it wasn't destroyed was it?" and Kettlewell suggests "I don't know. That woman, Winters, might have countermanded my orders". And when Kettlewell asks if people were killed during the break-ins and if the robot could have carried them out, he says "Oh, it's out of the question. You said he refused to harm you, didn't you? Yes, well, I gave him my own brain pattern. He has my principles, my ideals!". The Doctor then suggests that the robot's circuitry could be tampered with but Kettlewell dismisses the idea that Winters could do it. However, Kettlewell does finish the scene by saying "If they force him to go against his prime directive, they'll destroy his mind. He'll go mad!".
John Levene also nicely reprises his role as Benton, who in this story is promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major and looks rather pleased with himself when he tells Sarah about it and he says to her "You see, technically speaking, the Brig should have a Major and a Captain under him. The UNIT budget won't run to it so they settled on promoting me!".
Then later there is the scene where Benton saves Sarah and the Doctor from the robot as he and the other UNIT soldiers divert the robot from them and it escapes. So, Benton asks Sarah of the unconscious Doctor "Is he OK, Miss?" and Sarah says "Yes, yes, I think so" and Benton says "We just couldn't stop it". Sarah then objects to Benton firing on the robot "Oh, well, what did you have to start shooting for? He wouldn't have harmed you" and Benton says "You could have fooled me. It was trying to kill the Doctor, wasn't it?". Sarah then says "Yes, but that was because. Well, it doesn't matter, and it wasn't your fault, I suppose. You did your best" and Benton rather taken aback says "Oh, thank you very much. The US cavalry never got treated like this!".
And lastly there is the scene when Benton gives the Doctor the vital information he needs to help destroy the robot as he refers to what he heard from Professor Kettlewell about the robot's growing metal capacity. So, Benton says to the Brigadier "Excuse me, sir. When Professor Kettlewell was here talking to Miss Smith, he said the robot was made of some kind of living metal. He even said it could grow". The Doctor, interested says "Did he now" and Benton continues "Yes, and he went on about some kind of metal virus. Something that attacked the living metal...." and the Doctor, intrigued muses "The same way that disease attacks animal tissue". Benton however suddenly thinks he has been no help and says "Oh, I'm sorry. It was probably a daft idea anyway..." however the Doctor is delighted as it has given him the answer and he shakes Benton's hand and exclaims "Wonderful, Mr Benton! Wonderful!".
Alec Linstead is also pretty good in his role as Jellicoe, Miss Winters henchman, who takes part in their wicked activities. I will only mention one of his scenes and its the one where Winters and Jellicoe are working on the robot as Jellicoe adjusts settings inside the robot and having removed the robot's head, he reattaches it.
So, Jellicoe says to Winters "There. I think that's it" and Winters asks him "Think? You better be sure!" and Jellicoe says "It's a delicate job. I'm not really trained in this sort of work" and Winters says "Well, we better test it". Jellicoe then says "This time, emphasise the recall instructions. You know, it refused to return after that last business. I found it wandering near Kettlewell's place" and Winters laughs and says "How touching. Perhaps Miss Smith was right!". Jellicoe asks "About what?" and Winters says "Perhaps it does have feelings. It misses Daddy!".
And last of all Michael Kilgarriff provides a nice performance as the K1 Robot and Kilgarriff himself does both the voice and plays the physical part of the robot and his robot costume is actually fairly impressive (if a bit clunky!). Kilgarriff also does a nice job at showing the robot's emotional conflict when it is asked to carry out evil deeds and you actually feel sorry for the robot as it has been viciously manipulated by Winters to do her evil bidding.
And Kilgarriff has some good scenes aswell such as the one where Miss Winters as a demonstration to prove the robot cannot harm humans, orders it to destroy Sarah. However in the scene the robot becomes conflicted and says "I cannot obey. This order conflicts with my prime directive!" and Winters pressures it more by saying "You must obey..." but the robot still feels conflicted and it says "I must obey...I cannot obey...! I, I!" as it clearly shows sign of anguish and then Winters says "Terminate" and the robot goes limp.
Sarah then asks the robot "Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits". Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected. It is not logical that you should feel sorrow".
Then later there is the scene where Winters has programmed for the robot to kill the Doctor as he is lured to Kettlewell's lab and the robot is there waiting for him. The robot asks the Doctor "Are you the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "How do you do? I've been so looking forward to meeting you" but the robot asks again "Please confirm your identity. There must be no mistake. You are the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "Yes, yes of course!". The robot then advances on the Doctor and says "You are an enemy of the human race. I must destroy you. Please do not resist. I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain!" and it takes a swing at the Doctor, who ducks and the robot smashes a window.
So, the Doctor tries to slow the robot down to little effect but then he asks it "Prime directive! What is your prime directive?!" and the robot says "I must serve humanity and never harm it!" and the Doctor says "Then you musn't harm me! I'm a friend of humanity!" but the robot insists "No, you are an enemy. You must be destroyed!". The Doctor then briefly subdues the robot by sticking his hat over its head but the robot then hits the Doctor on the head and he falls down on the ground and the robot advances on him.
Another good scene from Kilgarriff is when the robot turns up at Kettlewell's lab in a state of emotional conflict. So, the robot in an anguished voice says "I,I, I...I have been given orders that conflict with my prime directive!" and Kettlewell says to himself "Oh, no!" and the robot continues "They say there is no conflict, yet I know there is conflict. I do not understand. Help me!".
Then later there is the scene where the robot unwittingly shoots Kettlewell with the disintegrator gun and it cries out "Aghhh! I have killed the one who created me!!" and the robot then collapses. And later the robot also takes a shine to Sarah and when it is fortified in the research bunker with Sarah the robot says to her "I can bring about the destruction of humanity! But do not fear, Sarah. You alone will be saved".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director Christopher Barry who does a good job with the story and he keeps the tone of it nice and light and paces the story out well and as a four parter its just the right length and ticks along nicely without ever feeling overlong. Barry was already a veteran director on the show as he directed the very first Dalek story from the William Hartnell era and would later go on to direct two more serials from the Baker era, The Brain of Morbius and The Creature from the Pit.
As for the music score Dudley Simpson provides another light, pleasant and jaunty score for the story which saw Simpson move even closer toward pure orchestral arrangements with the odd bit of keyboard thrown in here and there. And its a pity now that old Dudley has passed on as he was a real stalwart of the old series but he still had a good innings as he died last year at the age of 95.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
So as for the old flaws section..... yes Robot has the odd one or two.
To start off the story itself is pretty silly and unoriginal with yet another megalomaniac in Winters wanting to take over the world its nothing the show hasn't done before now and it has been done better in previous stories as well. Which brings me to the character of Winters herself who comes across more like a stern school teacher rather than anything else and she isn't really a character that makes you feel intimidated or has effectiveness to make the viewer believe she is a dominating megalomaniacal figure head.
Another point of the show which it has to be said is pretty daft is the use of CSO (colour separation overlay) which was a visual effect constantly overused during the Barry Letts era of the show, where a false background is superimposed (quite badly) and is well noted in the scenes where the robot grows in size and picks up Sarah as it just looks silly. This is especially daft when you see the robot carry a miniature doll version of Sarah for the medium shot!
And worst of all is the stupid inclusion of the tank scene in which a tank is wheeled in by the Brig to try and destroy the robot but the robot instead destroys it easily with the disintegrator gun, and the tank used in the scene itself is a toy one! And at this point in the story it really is quite laughable and obviously the BBC's budget couldn't stretch to using a full tank (well that and the fact that they couldn't disintegrate one either no doubt!).
I also though the scene where Miss Winters demonstrates the robot will not harm humans by ordering it to kill Sarah was also a bit bizarre, not in the manner of the demonstration but more the fact Miss Winters essentially attempted to murder Sarah right then and there. Yet in the scene, its actually Miss Winters that wants Sarah to keep quiet, despite the fact that she instigated an attempted murder! So, surely Sarah could tell her "Well I don't need to keep quiet as I will just tell the others that you tried to use the robot to kill me!. Basically I think Sarah had more leverage on her side with what went on than Miss Winters did!
And lastly I thought the moment where the Doctor warns the Brigadier to inform all the major powers to activate their fail-safes was also a bit silly because at that point the countdown was pretty much done! So, that meant between the Doctor and the Brigadier radio conversation they had about 20 seconds to make the call to the major powers and get them to activate their fail-safes! I'm pretty sure that 20 seconds really wouldn't cut it in all honesty here, well either that or the Brigadier has a hotline right through to them! Still even at this, its pretty far fetched to think that they could abort the countdown so quickly!
So, that's it for the flaws
SUM UP
So, to sum up, Robot is still a very enjoyable debut story for the Tom Baker era and it saw Tom make a very self assured start to his new role as the Doctor and one where even then, he started to nail his portrayal of the character that he would then go on to develop further. The story is also very well backed up by a solid cast and with Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney both in very good form as well as the introduction of Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan, the rather old fashioned medical doctor, who would later end up travelling with the Doctor and Sarah.
And yes it has some problems with the plot here and there and yep that toy tank is frankly just laughable when you see it and yes again, Barry Letts shows his overt passion for using CSO once again.
But despite these drawbacks, they don't stop Robot from being a very entertaining start to the 4th Doctor's era, who would always be in the public's eye, one of the most popular and enduring incarnations of the character.
Right, so that's it for now and I shall return with a new post of some kind soon (I promise!).
So, till the next one, its ciao for now!
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